黑料正能量 Note: If Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders conclude that there鈥檚 not enough money to make substantive adds beyond the Governor鈥檚 proposal, many of our asks will be jeopardized. Even in the bad times, the 3 sides have found extra money but the piece below suggests that this year might be different. Stay tuned!
Cuomo And Lawmakers Need To Agree On Revenue Forecast 鈥 Or DiNapoli Makes The Call
By David Lombardo Albany Times Union February 25, 2019
Next week the state Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo need to decide how much money they鈥檒l have for the upcoming year, a potentially touchy subject with the and Democratic lawmakers campaigning last year on boosting spending.
The meeting of the Joint Revenue Forecasting Conference , with a consensus forecast required the next day, according to state law. If an agreement can鈥檛 be reached by Friday, state law hands the responsibility to state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, who has to create a state revenue estimate by March 5.
In a statement last week, with the publication of the state鈥檚 January cash report, DiNapoli said the revenue picture 鈥渋s increasingly challenged.鈥 This reflected the concerns he raised earlier in the month during a rare joint appearance with Cuomo, which revealed the revenue projections for the state were worse than expected.
Given the bleak revenue predictions, DiNapoli said in a statement, 鈥淲e should take an extremely cautious approach when negotiating next year鈥檚 budget.鈥
Traditionally the forecasting conference is a dull affair, with testimony provided by a handful of economists making predictions about the future. The result (at least usually) is a report that anticipates a rosier picture than initially predicted in the governor鈥檚 budget proposal, enabling some hard choices to be avoided and pet projects to be funded.
Last year an agreement was reached that revenue would be at least $675 million higher than previously anticipated for a two-year period.
Given what Cuomo has said about the state鈥檚 financial picture for 2019 and beyond, it鈥檚 hard to imagine state Division of Budget Director Robert Mujica agreeing to a forecast that follows past trends. If the administration does draw a hard line in the sand, it remains to be seen whether they鈥檒l be able to strike a deal on the forecast with Democratic lawmakers.
A failure to agree on a revenue forecast would be a clear indicator of an intense and volatile final month of budget negotiations.